Pets are required to have identification and/or license tags in many jurisdictions. These tags are typically flat engraved metal plates with an aperture facilitating the attachment of the tag to a metal ring, although other forms and variants of such tags are also in use. Depending on the jurisdiction, several tags may be required to reflect licensing, ownership, and vaccination status of a pet. Owners may also add additional tags with information facilitating contacting the owner if a pet strays or is lost, or including other personally chosen information.
Over the years, pet collars have evolved away from being a purely functional item, e.g., a purely utilitarian object for leashing or restraining a pet into a fashion item. A pet owner may now have, instead of only one dog collar, several pet collars of different colors and/or styles to match the outfit of the pet owner, reflect a seasonal theme, or suit the owner's mood or whim on any particular day. A leading manufacturer of such fashion collars is Up Country, Inc., of East Providence, R.I., assignee of the present application.
Changing pet tags between multiple collars is time-consuming and may be difficult for some pet owners. Removing the tags from a collar (or adding the tags to a collar) while the collar is worn by an active or uncooperative pet may also present additional difficulties.
Conventional pet tag holders receive pet tags and attach to pet collars in a relatively complicated or difficult to perform fashion. Some of these pet tag holders require that the pet collar be removed from the pet first, so that the tag can be slid onto a metal split D- or O-ring attached to pet collar, etc. Other pet tag holders attach by a nut-and-bolt connection, and still others require that a hole or holes be punched into the pet collar. The manner of mounting a pet tag to the pet tag holder is not always straightforward.